April 17, 2025
IpX Executive Director True North Calibration
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Organizations aggressively driving improvement through a portfolio of change initiatives recognize the power and the dangers of inertia. When well-managed improvement initiatives meet their objectives and deliver value, they can create organizational buzz, energy, and enthusiasm. Successful implementation means team members understand the case for change, connect with the benefits and actively participate in affecting change. It means leadership has earned credibility and the willingness of staff to engage meaningfully in future improvement initiatives. Success can beget success: inertia can be created.
But unfortunately, the converse is also true. Managing change is a difficult leadership challenge, and when a critical mass of initiatives struggles, a sense of change fatigue can set in. Team members begin to view improvements as “the flavor of the month” – a bright, shiny object that is little more than a fleeting organizational distraction. For many in the organization, the rational response is to wait and see before participating. Maybe the change is a good thing, maybe it’s not, but too many failed initiatives have come and gone to warrant a personal investment.
As a leader managing change, discerning and managing how change is viewed in your organization and addressing inertia is not a “nice to have” – it can be the difference between success and failure.
While technical and operational aspects of change are important, success ultimately depends on how people adapt. Organizational Change Management (OCM) focuses on guiding individuals through their personal change journeys. OCM significantly impacts change implementation by providing a structured framework to manage the human aspects of change within an organization, helping employees understand, accept, and adopt new processes, systems, or cultures, ultimately leading to smoother transitions and increased success rates for change initiatives.
As a leader managing implementation, consider what’s at stake:
It takes more than a great idea to make an improvement initiative successful. It requires the willingness of stakeholders to invest in the change. Working differently to capture incremental value – learning a new process, or new system, or responding to shifted roles and responsibilities requires an investment from stakeholders and process practitioners. Neglecting OCM – failing to bring the organization along in the change journey impacts the willingness of teams to change. The greater the impact of the change, the more important OCM becomes.
Improvement initiatives often fail due to resistance from staff, but resistance doesn’t have to be active to have a significant impact. Inertia may be working against you; the path of least resistance is often to continue the previous ways of working. A passive wait-and-see attitude can be enough to stall implementation and kill momentum.
As a leader implementing change, recognize great leadership is hard to stop.
Change is hard. As a leader, expect adversity and be prepared to deal with obstacles. Get your hands dirty in the details and be the “sharp end of the spear” – lead from the front. Delaying the next “big idea” to prioritize capturing value and creating some momentum is worth it. When initiatives don’t deliver against their objectives, understand why and be honest and transparent. Invest in your personal credibility.
Organizational change management is a structured, strategic approach to engaging stakeholders, addressing concerns, and building buy-in, making employees more likely to support and adopt changes. The key benefits include:
Without OCM, the transition to new processes, technologies, or systems can be slow and chaotic, and ultimately risk the success of the initiative. Effective OCM not only ensures that employees are trained, equipped, and motivated to adapt quickly, but also proactively understands and addresses the concerns of impacted process practitioners and stakeholders. Process practitioners become personally invested in the success of the change initiative because they see their input and recommendations reflected in the plan.
OCM identifies key stakeholders and actively manages their expectations and alignment with the initiative’s goals and objectives. It emphasizes clear and consistent communication throughout the change process, ensuring everyone is informed about the rationale, timeline, and impact of the change. This reduces uncertainty and fosters trust and collaboration. By proactively communicating and addressing employee concerns, OCM helps mitigate resistance and fosters a more receptive environment for change. In addition, involving employees in the change process through OCM communication strategies like training and feedback loops enhances their understanding and buy-in, leading to greater engagement.
Investing in OCM helps organizations develop a repeatable framework for future improvement opportunities, reducing the learning curve and improving the probability of success for subsequent initiatives. OCM includes mechanisms to monitor the change implementation process, proactively identify potential risks and roadblocks, and adjust implementation as needed. In effect, prioritizing OCM, creates inertia.
In summary, organizational change management is essential for achieving the desired outcomes of any change initiative. OCM bridges the gap between technical implementation and human adoption and acts as a catalyst for successful change implementation by focusing on the human element and fostering a positive change culture. It ensures that organizational improvements are not only introduced but also sustained.
Links:
1 Reason Why Most Change Management Efforts Fail
Michael Benning, Executive Director of True North Calibration, brings over 25 years of experience in various project and operations management roles in the oil and gas and manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining IpX, Michael was the Director of Program Management and was tasked with establishing a Change & Configuration Management competence based on CM2 principles at a tier-1 automotive manufacturer. This global competency included 2 Change Leaders, 1 Change Implementation Leader, 2 Audit Release Analysts, a Director of Change Management, and had direct oversight to the CAD services team. In addition to rationalizing existing product portfolios, and integrating CM2 principles with legacy engineering and operations processes, the team implemented a configurator platform.
